The true from the false. Is a radioactive cloud heading towards Europe after the destruction of an ammunition warehouse in Ukraine, as claimed by the Russian authorities?

According to the secretary of the Moscow Security Council, close to Vladimir Putin, high levels of radiation have already been measured after the explosion of a warehouse in Ukraine where supposedly depleted uranium bombs were stored. Except that there is no evidence of the presence of such a radioactive cloud.

Is a radioactive cloud approaching France? That’s what the posts on social media say. They quote the secretary of the Security Council of Russia, Nikolai Patrushev, who claimed in the Russian press that a radioactive cloud was heading towards Western Europe after the explosion of a warehouse in Ukraine where depleted uranium bombs were supposedly stored. According to this close friend of Vladimir Putin, high levels of radiation have already been measured.

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No significant increase in radioactivity

ifthere was indeed a major explosion in the city cited by Putin’s relative, on the other hand, we do not know if it was really a weapon warehouse and above all: there was no increase noticeable levels of radioactivity, whether in Ukraine or elsewhere in Europe. We are indeed talking about a significant increase because there are variations in radioactivity all the time. This is the case for example in Brittany or Auvergne because of the granite and the weather. It is a natural phenomenon. “The level of radioactivity naturally varies by plus or minus 30% depending on weather conditions, altitude (due to cosmic radiation) and territories”explains the Institute for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety in France.

There, in this case, there is only one sensor in Ukraine which has experienced a slight increase in radioactivity. This is not enough to conclude that it is indeed a radioactive cloud. By elsewhere, there are other clues that suggest that there is no radioactive cloud. DFirstly, because the increase noted by this famous sensor took place before the explosion. kyiv still sent a team there to carry out a series of measures and the values ​​were all below the norm.

Ia Crirad, the French commission for research and information on radioactivity, was able to consult the data and according to its director, whom franceinfo was able to reach, the results seem reassuring. They do not show abnormal levels of radioactivity. En clear: it is probably an increase linked to a weather phenomenon, and not to the explosion.

Bordering countries denounce misinformation


Elsewhere in Europe, there are no abnormal levels either. PFor example, on the European Commission website, data from thousands of sensors distributed throughout Europe (including more than 150 in France) can be accessed and none have shown unusual increases in recent days.

Poland, Slovakia and Romania, all three bordering Ukraine, also say the situation is normal. The measured values ​​pose no threat to life or health. En the other hand, the three countries denounce the misinformation, which has been very present since the start of the war.


source site-25